Super Bowl for the ages

Allow us to interrupt these NFL playoffs to mull the ultimate sports hypothetical. What would happen if the 1972 Miami Dolphins, in their prime, could play these New England Patriots?

BARRY JACKSON

Allow us, for a moment, to interrupt these NFL playoffs to mull the ultimate sports hypothetical.

What would happen if the 1972 Miami Dolphins, in their prime, could play these New England Patriots?

The Patriots, who defeated San Diego to win the AFC championship game, surpassed the '72 Dolphins' 17-0 record and need one victory — over the Giants in the Super Bowl — to join them in sports immortality, as the only undefeated teams in NFL history.

Miami Dolphins radio analyst Jim Mandich, a tight end on that 1972 team, doesn't need to give the question much thought.

"They would kick our behinds from one side of the field to the other," Mandich said. Another '72 alum, former safety Dick Anderson, concurred: "Based on their speed and size, we would get our butts kicked."

And '72 alum Jim Kiick conceded, "Physically, it would be tough to compete. Today's athletes are a lot better."

But not everyone on the 1972 team agrees, and that is where discussion of this sports fantasy becomes spirited.

A few Dolphins said if this make-believe game were played, Miami would have a good chance of winning — but only if it were contested under the NFL's old rules, when more contact was permitted between defensive backs and receivers.

The rule difference is significant because the Pats led the league in passing yards per game (295.7) and set a record by averaging 36.8 points.

"If we play under the old rules, we win going away," former Dolphins guard Bob Kuechenberg said. "We would be on the field three quarters of the day. If it's under the new rules, I suppose you have to give it to them."

Under today's "chucking" rules, some contact between a defensive player and a receiver is permitted, but only within 5 yards of the line scrimmage.

Under the rules in place in 1972, "defenses could hit receivers any place on the field," Anderson said. "We couldn't hit them in the back or when the ball was in the air, but you could knock a receiver down, and then someone else could knock him down."

If the Dolphins could use those rules to defend Patriots receivers Randy Moss and Wes Welker, "I think we probably could win," defensive tackle Manny Fernandez said. "Under the current rules, it would be really tough. Patriots quarterback Tom Brady would just shred our secondary." Said running back Mercury Morris: "Using our rules, the Patriots become like anybody else."

The Dolphins neutralized Cincinnati's Isaac Curtis, one of his generation's fastest receivers, because the rules benefited the defense.

"Former Dolphins defensive coordinator Bill Arnsparger took Curtis out of the game with an ax technique — the cornerback cutting the receiver at the line of scrimmage," Mandich said. "Bill, by those rules, would make sure Randy Moss was a nonfactor."

Anderson said Minnesota used four-receiver sets back then, so the Dolphins would be prepared for that from the Patriots, although he noted they never saw teams lining up five receivers in his era.

Under old rules, Kuechenberg said the Dolphins would "shorten the game, so Brady doesn't get on the field, and pound their receivers all day long. We kept the ball 35, 36 minutes a game. That leaves them with only 24, 25 minutes."

The Pats' advantage — especially under the current rules — is undeniable: Players of this era are bigger and faster.

Could an in-his-prime Anderson, who often defended the slot receiver, keep up with Welker? "Hell, no," Anderson said. "But if it's a zone defense and somebody knocked him down, I'd have my eyes on the ball."

According to the Dolphins' 1972 media guide, their starting offensive line of Jim Langer, Kuechenberg, Larry Little, Doug Crusan and Norm Evans averaged 253 pounds, with Little the heaviest at 265. They would be at a huge disadvantage against a Patriots defensive line anchored by Vince Wilfork (325 pounds), Richard Seymour (310) and Ty Warren (300).

Said Kuechenberg: "The '72 Dolphins were the lightest team in the NFL. Could they beat bigger teams? Yes, I think so. That's the way to beat the Patriots. They can be run on. ... No team has pounded a team like the '72 and '73 Dolphins pounded people."

The last word goes to Dolphins executive vice president Bill Parcells, who before leaving ESPN last month, pontificated on air about a matchup between the teams.

"I think defensively the Dolphins would really have to be resourceful against that Patriot team because they don't have the defensive back ability to match up with these Patriots' receivers," Parcells said.

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